Two thousand people will be interviewed for the survey, which will measure childcare against other professions in terms of qualifications, skills and pay. The county is expected to recruit 13,500 new staff by 2004, but so far it has found only 3,500.
Harriet Hill, head of Essex early years and childcare services, said, 'We are very concerned, not just about recruiting new staff but retaining them. We are aiming to change schools' careers advice and the perception that childcare is for the least able girls, a station of last resort if they have failed to become secretaries.'
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